#But that was mostly me focusing on details wayyy too much

[kikikakapo-art]

Gift for @sleepinginmute

It’s them!!!!! I really really love the designs and the ship and them being in a QPR so I just had to draw them!!!

Hope I did them justice :>

[diabolikpersonals]

Heyyy, just an interesting question I had, do you think diabloic lovers could’ve been more popular and better if it wasn’t a “romance” thing, for me I feel like it would’ve been wayyy better if they were to choose the healing from trauma route for the franchise, esp since it would’ve made sense since the vampires had traumatic childhoods. Not only that the “romance” isn’t even romance it’s straight up (TW: SA, abuse and manipulation) and it’s hella weird that most of the characters are minors. Sorry for blubbering so much but just a thought I had 😭😭😭

You and I just aren't members of the target audience, anon, but dialovers is plenty popular because it's a dark romance. I get that the eng-speaking fandom isn't all that active, and things are especially quiet because we're in the middle of a long hiatus, but it's a fairly popular otome game series with lots of dedicated fans, u know? And the thing everybody knows it for, and the thing that the fans are always talking about, are its dark romantic fantasy sexy vampire stuff. Getting preyed on by a hot vampire guy is a pretty normal & common fantasy to have, imo. so I don't think it needs to change to become more popular or anything, in fact I think it'd become less popular fsdghfh

But I hear you, because I'm not part of the target audience either (opposite end of the spectrum, personally...!) and I'm mostly into it for plot n character analysis. (I know that sounds so pretentious but I can't help being a nerd about this stuff ok.......I definitely have my ships too) I've definitely felt, as I was playing and reading, that this is an amazing story that is kind of held back because it's an otome game and the law requires them to stick blood-sucking scenes into almost every single chapter.

I'd argue that dialovers already is steering itself in a direction where it's focusing more on character-driven plot and less on romance. A lot of people complained about LE for this exact reason. Personally, I like it...! I know it's because I'm not the target audience but when I'm playing these games, getting through the bloodsucking scenes is such a chore, especially when I'm like "GUYS there's a demon war going on!!!" lmao. I thought this was an unpopular perspective to have in this fandom, but I've met some people who share the same opinions as me, and I think both parties can be satisfied (and I'm putting this in bold because I'm so so serious) if dialovers released a series of light novels.

This is my newest thing I'm campaigning for bc I think it would be the perfect supplementary material for dialovers. The best blood-sucking scenes are gonna be in the game, since they've got the visuals and the voice acting. Novels aren't structured like the games, so while they'll definitely still have blood-sucking scenes in them (duh), they won't have to interrupt important plot points to have 5 or 6 unnecessary ones. It's a retelling so you can take the scenes from the games and describe them in way more detail! Dialovers as a tighter story! More insight into how the characters act, and what they're thinking and feeling! Intimate scenes described in prose! Cool new art for the covers! And rejet makes money without the need for voice acting, so it can be done during the hiatus! Everybody's happy, right??? rejet pls hear my pitch.......

[thelivingmemegod]

Thoughts on the outfits from the Monster High live action movies (this is gonna be a long post I can already feel it)

I’m working off promo shots cuz I’m Not watching these movies my head would explode.

Toralei: she’s first cuz she’s only in the one movie.

I like most of her outfit. Her skirt feels out of place because the colors and print feel random. Nothing else like that shows in her outfit so it looks a bit…off. This could honestly just be fixed with more drafts

Frankie

Movie one:

G E T THIS PARTY CITY, HALLOWEEN SPIRIT PLASTIC CHAIN HAVING MF-ERY OUT OF HERE P L E A S E. The worst part about their outfit is that it’s so fuckin’ plain??? Like the dress is completely patternless, the chains do pull the eye down but they’re also placed so they hang over the front and not their hip which looks SUPREMELY awkward, the tie is the most eye catching thing on them and that’s bad because it pulls too much focus from their face! The stiff collar shirt, tights and shoes are just fine, I like the idea of them trying to mix these very different looks and the ripped tights pull interest to the legs after the VOID OF NOTHINGNESS THAT IS THE PINAFORE DRESS.

Movie two:

This. This is SO MUCH BETTER.

While it’s not quite to my personal taste, as an outfit this is wayyy better. The vibrant neons on a black background is pretty tried and true and it looks pretty dang good here too! Like the color choices but the placements really make it here. The neon green strips around the arms and neck don’t pull focus from their face but they do pull it down to the rest of the outfit! The weird fishnet shirt underneath (while not my favorite) works with their belts and bracelets to pull the eye down, the belt chain and zipper detailing on their cargo pants continue the trend, then you hit their platforms and the silver/white parts pull you RIGHT back up to their hair. I also love the mix of punk and prep they did here with the crop sweater vest and the cargo pants. Overall: Wonderful, wouldn’t change much about it.

Draculuara

Movie one:

Aside from how cheap it looks, I don’t hate the basics. It also doesn’t fail the interest curve like Frankie’s first outfit. The pink isn’t very well dispersed and mostly focused on the top half of her (her hair, puff sleeves, neckline and belt). I will admit they did a good job keeping her outfit and skin from clashing (in promo at least).

Then you get to the small void of her skirt. If you just take the end lace and make that the same color as her under shirt, belt or necktie you’d be so much better off. Personally I would’ve given her a few different thin petticoats in different shades of pink so that A. Her dress would look fuller and either exaggerate her A-line and break her up from Clawdeen and B. Give her movement and more variation. When she moves or sits, you’d see all the shades of pink peaking out from under her skirt.

I say different shades of pink because it would also pull in her light pink Maryjane’s (her shoes) I only think they work because of her wearing tights, otherwise they’re the same color as her skin. I personally would’ve gone with lace socks (lace tights exist I just think that would’ve been too much)

Movie two:

This outfit shows what I was talking about with her skirt from the last one. It also shows what I meant with her pink colors clashing with each other. In promo for the second movie, her frock coat (the jacket dress), hair and skin are all fighting each other. It makes her hair look faded, her skin look washed out and her frock coat look VIOLENTLY PINK.

It works on Frankie with their blue because A. It’s used way less and B. it’s a different tone from their skin.

Draculaura’s is fighting with her.

Now the underside of her dress is also why I’d use several shades of pink, cuz that just looks flat.

This one might be more of a me problem, but her shoes are violently pink but they’re the wrong *shade* of violent pink which bothers me.

I do love the pink panel and buttons on her frock coat and her heart belt. Looks like the vampire heart from Frights, Camera, Action.

Cleo isn’t in movie 2 promos for some reason so movie one only-

Party city is once again the problem.

I. Structurally it’s not bad. There’s interest throughout and it’s technically on theme. This outfit is bad because it feels misfit to the person wearing it and it looks cheap.

Her skirt looks like a bathmat, her wraps look weirdly…dirty? Like they don’t look like old wraps, they look like dirty gold silks, which she’d NEVER wear. Also why do they tie twice?? And why do the hanging ties look like a completely different material from the rest of the wrap??

Her jewlery is dull in color and looks very floaty and light all contributing to the cheap costume-y, party city look.

Her shoes are fine, they’re a different shade of blue but that doesn’t really matter here.

Another thing I think makes it look like Not-Cleo is that there’s not enough asymmetry. The wraps G1 Cleo had on her arms gave a ton of nice looking asymmetry that was added onto by bangles or purses. G1 Cleo does have looks without these and they’re more symmetrical, but they’re the exception, not the rule. She’s also just not accessorized as much as I think Cleo would be.

BIG SECTION INCOMING I HAVE FUCKING THOUGHTS BABY

CLAWDEEN WOLF:

Movie one:

What. What the FUCK is this mess. It’s so busy. So busy.

There’s no interest anywhere because it’s too damn busy. EVEN HER FUCKING SHOES ARE BUSY. The fur coat is completely and totally unnecessary in this outfit, it shouldn’t be here. Put it on something ELSE.

Her belts feels like a slap in the face because it’s an ATTEMPT to separate the patterns of her skirt and shirt, but one is ALSO PATTERNED and one is a whole different texture. And they’re both too thin to help anyways! I hate this.

Not that making it chunkier would exactly help this awful decision. I want to delete this skirt so badly- there’s no reason for it to be patterned like this, they just WANTED TOO.

I give the move shirt a pass because she’s a lost kid and her only connection point is the moon. So okay, that’s fine. If you can explain to me why the skirt and shoes and patterned like that beyond “she’s a werewolf!” Then I’ll eat a fuckin shoe or something I just-

Movie two:

Better. Quite a bit better.

I don’t love that they got rid of the only pattern that made any sense for her character. Especially since she’s supposed to beefing with the cat girl, yet she’s wearing a cheetah print skirt. The belt is chunkier and does a way better job separating things out, it also pulls the color of her jacket’s fur trim in-I don’t like that color here, but it works.

Speaking of! Her jacket is no longer an offense to fashion, it’s much more tasteful with just a purple fur trim. As for the color…her whole outfit is honestly very cold shades of purple, and they don’t mix that well together. Mostly the skirt vs the jacket. There’s also not enough interest all out, the skirt pattern is eating it all up so your eye is just drawn to the lower middle of her body rather then her face because purple curls are blending with the jacket.

Her shoes are super inoffensive.

I hate these so bad in part because Clawdeen is supposed to be into fashion isn’t she??? (Unless they changed that) She’d know these things- so it pisses me off some-

[ashenburst]

Ok small question: HOW did u *predict* fyodor and nikolai's characterization so well? I've read ur fic ex nihilo and i know u wrote that wayyy before chapter 97 + 98 even came out. Before the recent bsd chapters we didnt really have a big clue on how fyodor's and nikolai's chemistry would look like together ,but they align so perfect in the same way how u wrote them?

Hello hello and thank you for the ask!

I'd like to preface this by saying I actually have no idea, and even if I once did, I forgot. However, I can try and guess! Though I honestly also mostly forgot Ex Nihilo's plot and their interactions... but I'll try!

First of all, though I doubt this is the key aspect, I've read plenty of Gogol's and Dostoyevsky's works and managed to grasp the spirit of those authors so to speak. I also adored reading about their biographies - going into as much detail as I could - and that's something I'm sure I focused on, the lives of the authors themselves! I even started watching/reading BSD because of my love for those authors (mostly Dostoyevsky who, to me, seemed like the only author who I fully clicked with) and the mystique that BSD Fyodor's character represented at the time (which was in... 2018 or 2017, back when I was a sophomore in HS). As a consequence, I feel that I've viewed those characters more like their irl counterparts and their works AND THEIR IDEOLOGIES than actual standalone characters (than actual human beings too). Meaning, while writing fanfiction, I had many sources to reference my writing from or be inspired by.

What I am unsure of, and what I may have done (because, again, I do not remember Ex Nihilo) is be vague. I love making the reader think about the story which is sometimes done by making things a bit blurred and tucking the prescription glasses elsewhere. However, I doubt that was the case here, because I somewhat remember I knew what I was doing with these two and it was not meant to be as convoluted as say Fyodor's motivations.

That brings us to the next possibility - these two are the sort of characters I find... natural to write? I have similar characters in my original book and I realize they flow when I write them. I am unsure if this is due to practice I got while writing Ex Nihilo but I do remember it felt natural there as well.

Aside from that, one thing that I can firmly state is that I got lucky.

I have stopped following BSD perhaps a year or two ago and I have no idea what's going on with them (except for the few posts I get every once in a while), but if Fedya and Kolya are as funky and as tragic as I made them in Ex Nihilo (or even more, please more), cool! Glad there's shenanigans going on, they have so much potential and I hope the manga explores them even more.

There! Is! Just! So much material! And if the author of BSD doesn't give it to us, well, guess us fanfic writers will have to manufacture it ourselves?

Once again, thank you for the ask, have a lovely day! If you see any typos or mistakes it's because it's very late here and I do not have the energy to notice them haha so, sorry for those!

[wardens-stew]

The Mask Falling Hints MASTERPOST

Clearly I have wayyy too much time on my hands! 

I have compiled a list of information Samantha Shannon has divulged on social media about The Mask Falling, mostly paraphrased from her Tumblr and Twitter. Some of it dates back as far as 2016, so it’s not certain that all of it will happen - I’ve included an asterisk for the tidbits in which Samantha explicitly mentioned that it was pre-editing. I didn’t include a link to the original source because that would be too much work, but if anyone has questions I can probably find it pretty easily! The recent ARC reviews also include some hints, but I haven’t included them because that would be a crap-ton of text. Feel free to add anything I missed! Anyway enjoy the fruits of my obsession! 

Hints:

We will find out how badly Warden was affected by Paige’s torture - there’s a lot about the effects of her torture in the book 

The non-binary character is a free-world spy, pretending to be French 

Paige has issues with drinking water and showering 

Paige will make another valiant effort to get Warden to talk about his feelings 

Paige’s demisexuality is clarified -  she reflects on the way she wants in comparison to the way the allosexual Nick and Eliza do

Paige gets slammed into the wall by someone, but not Terebell (also not Warden, because then she would be very dead) 

The grey market storyline continues

Etymological connection of Arcturus meaning bear-guard and Mahoney meaning descendant of the bear is worked into the books 

Paige cries

Paige’s PTSD is a thread throughout the book 

Paige has mental and physical difficulties following her torture 

“The scope of everything gets bigger, there's more focus on the free world and how it interacts with Scion, and you'll find out more about Rephaite history and the origin of clairvoyance.”

You may figure out what happened to Procyon

Warden’s aura type is mentioned*

Paige starts calling Warden Arcturus. They have a discussion about it. But she keeps calling him Warden in front of other people. 

The prologue begins about an hour after The Song Rising 

Warden asks Paige to teach him Irish

Contains clues as to the big secret at the heart of the series 

Warden does a few very sweet things

We’ll find out a reason why Nashira considers Warden a possession rather than a partner*

Paige is at her most fragile

One of the characters eats an orange

There is a distinct Priory parallel in one section of the story

Paige asks Warden if Rephaim can get drunk 

We will find out if Rephaim can get physically ill

We’ll get a piece of information that may help us understand the Rephaite logic behind Warden feeding on Paige’s aura 

More about the golden cord

Paige’s feelings with her father will be explored 

We will find out why it was common knowledge amongst Rephaim that Terebell and Warden were once mated 

Warden might tell us what would happen if he tried to eat

More about voyant-amaurotic sex will be explained 

We will learn more about the Rephaim’s internal politics and conflicts 

We get to see Paige’s birthday

We we’ll find out how Warden knows how to develop Paige’s gift*

Paige and Warden butt heads over right and wrong 

We’ll find out why Warden said that Sargas are the only Rephs who choose their mates

We’ll find out more about the half-urge

We’ll find out more about the complicated history between Warden and Terebell

Warden is planning to learn Gaelic (pre-editing)

We’ll find out two of the reasons why Warden hates Nashira so much*

We’ll find out about the promise Warden made to Nashira that she alludes to before the Bicentary

Warden says something with an exclamation mark

Warden will tell us more about the memory of Terebell, and how it was a prelude to one of the defining moments of his existence 

Paige visits Warden’s dreamscape a few times, but we only see it once

Paige addresses the author directly 

Nick isn’t in the book at all

The plot takes place only in Paris

Paige dies her hair red

A character Samantha did not originally plan to be in TBS4 now is

There’s a big scene in the Sainte-Chapellle in Paris

The book is shaping up to be the darkest book in the series, but also contains the most jokes 

Paige feels really ill for most of the book 

Samantha starts hinting at the Grand Backstory of the series 

Paige is under strict orders to stay inside for a month, but she breaks the rules to explore Paris 

The main antagonist was born in “the burning summer of 2019”

We’ll find out about two of Warden’s past relationships 

Paige and Warden have to get food deliveries from a guy called Albéric because they’re not allowed to go outside 

There’s espionage 

Warden uses the super unnecessary word “sennight”

A lot of the book takes place underground

We learn if a non-polyglot could ever learn Gloss 

There is a Very Awkward Conversation*

There is a time skip between the fourth and fifth books

Warden smiles a lot… with his eyes

The ending will change everything 

Scion must change its public face due to an event that happens at the end

People who liked The Mime Order will love it

TBS4 picks up when Paige is resting.

It will go into more detail about how Rephaim emerge

It marks the beginning of Beautiful Dresses in The Bone Season 

It introduces a Rephaite character Samantha absolutely loves, with her favorite Rephaite name 

There’s a scene Samantha has wanted to write for years 

The ending is very dark 

There’s a cute priory reference 

There’s a character Samantha loves - “she’s so cool that I don’t know how a nerd like me invented her”

“The relationship between Warden and Paige gets deeper and more complicated in this one, and you get to know Warden a little better.”

“[Paige and Warden] are together a lot in this book, as they’re sharing a safe house in Paris. It’s the first time they’ve spent a significant amount of time with one another since they escaped Sheol I.  You’ll actually glimpse the ways they both react to being stuck inside in The Mask Falling, as they’re meant to stay hidden in a safe house for a month so Paige can start to recover from her ordeal.”

“It’s a love song to Paris in the way The Mime Order was a love song to London.”

“[Paige and Warden do have some happy calm moments.] Although there’s a lot of action in the book, there’s also quite a lot of downtime. Paige is still recovering from her ordeal in the Archon, so she can’t always be out in the world kicking ass. She’s resting as well, trying to get her strength back.”

“I won’t lie, The Mask Falling is a book to fear . . . but there are some nice bits. Including some coffee-drinking.”

“[Paige and Warden] do so much in this book. So much.”

“Most of the characters who didn’t go to Paris are absent from TBS4.”

“Paige and Warden do so much in this book, I just couldn’t cram any other storylines in. However, several old friends do turn up in it, as well as a bunch of new characters I hope you’ll love as much as I do.”

“Paige [experiences the messiest-most-intense emotion in TBS4]. She goes through the emotional wringer in this one.”

“The second ‘arc’ has the same main characters and the same antagonist. The difference has more to do with the setting, the scope of the narrative, and the type of battle being fought against Scion. You’ll have a better idea of what I mean when you read the end of TBS4.”

“This book puts both [Paige and Warden] through the emotional wringer, but there are lighter parts as well.” “Nick meets an old friend while he’s in Sweden and Paige and Warden will be staying in central Paris, on Rue Gît-le-Cœur. You can see some of the locations from Book 4 here: [x]”

“TBS4 is basically just a long Hurt/Comfort piece with occasional and reluctant splashes of Action/Adventure”

“THE MASK FALLING leans a little more Adult than the other BONE SEASON books. The whole series is officially classified as Adult, but the first three aren't far off YA in terms of sexual content, violence etc. THE MASK FALLING is . . . maybe a tiny bit sexier.”

“Doing my final reread of THE MASK FALLING and naturally I've noticed a recurring phrase that I have used no less than thirty times in the manuscript.”

“It blows the world of The Bone Season right open. It’s where everything changes. It takes place in a brand-new setting and forms the bridge between the two ‘arcs’ of the series. I hope the ending will show readers get why I really do need seven instalments to tell this story.”

“Books 1-4 is what I call the “Scion arc”, but Scion is still a threat in Books 5-7. Book 4 is kind of in the middle, with more of a focus on Rephaim than there currently is in Book 3.”

“He’s in Book 4, he’s French, he’s voyant, and I’m writing his introduction scene now. I think I love him?”

“The draft is about 140 000 words long – a little shorter than The Mime Order – with a veritable tonne of action, espionage, international politics, eerie catacombs, old enemies, new friends, and messy, intense emotions packed into that word count.” 

“This one combines my favourite elements of The Bone Season (Warden and Paige chats), The Mime Order (syndicate weirdness) and The Song Rising (heists and angst)”

“The fourth Bone Season book is well underway, and things are about to take a very dark turn for Paige.”

“It’s mostly focused on Paris, but you’ll find out bits and pieces about what’s happening in both England and Europe.”

“She’s suffering from PTSD and aquaphobia following her water torture in The Song Rising, so she’s pretty much in the ringer for the whole book. There are a few light moments, but she’s under a lot of stress from the start.”

“While I wouldn't call it spy fiction, TBS4 is delving into espionage territory as Warden and Paige, still exhausted from their tremendous efforts against Scion in The Song Rising, attempt to navigate the convoluted political and criminal networks of Scion Paris.”

“Book 4 is a touch more political, laced with subterfuge”

Lists:

Things you’ll see:

The carrières of Paris

A masquerade (ofc)

A mysterious character you haven’t seen in a long while

Arcturus Mesarthim saying ‘hm’ about 18 times

Five words:

Revelations

Politics

Water

Heartache

War

Three adjectives:

Macabre

Emotional

Seismic

There is a lot of:

Warden and Paige

Rain

Classy interior decor

Angst

New characters include:

A spy so fashionable and icy cool I’m unsure of how a nerd like me created her

A tall, irritable Frenchman with a bit of a God complex

A terrifying new Rephaite with an uncomfortably sexy voice

It has:

A Parisian underworld 

A demisexual MC 

A masquerade ball 

Catacombs 

Forbidden, angst-stricken desire 

Verbal consent 

Acknowledgement of periods 

I can promise:

Parisian buildings TOURISTS LOVE. Notre-Dame? It's there, there's a masquerade INSIDE IT. Sainte-Chapelle? Oui. Versailles? Naturally. The Eiffel Tower? Oh, we're climbing it 

Getting DOWN and DIRTY. (By which I mean literally, down, into the catacombs.)

People who arrive in Paris SPEAKING FRENCH because they have been given a job for which they have the correct SKILLSET *bangs table* 

No crêpes (#OhCrepe), but CHAUSSONS AUX POMMES 

ROOFTOP PICNIC 

Not everyone is STRAIGHT 

Chic OUTFITS, all quite filthy by the end

Locations: 

The beautiful Sainte-Chapelle, my favourite place on Earth. 

Rue Gît-le-Cœur, a major location in the book and previously home to the Beat Hotel.

The famous doorway in the Paris Catacombs. The inscription translates to 'Stop! This is the Empire of Death.' 

Rue Montmartre, where we may or may not encounter an old face. 

Preview in gifs:

Originally posted by cinemagraphs

Originally posted by queeniegoldtsein

Originally posted by cumlelerinruhu

Snippets:

Out-of-context chapter title: Chapter 3: Gloomy Coffee

Part names*: 

1. To Pay Thee Free

2. Turn the Anchor

3. Eurydice

Quotes:

“What the fuck is that?” she whispered to me. “Looks like a frozen rainbow.”

“The horizon was as red as if the fire still burned. I watched the sunrise from the roof. Fog breathed into every nook and alcove of Paris, laced over the dark crests of the river, blanched the skin to the pink of salmon. I was sure the air was still spiced with the tang of smoke.”

“So,” he said, “we are choosing larceny.” “Always so surprised when his criminal friend commits crimes.”

“I wouldn’t usually care who you’re riding at any given time”

“I sensed all of this was very important, but I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about”

“I picked up the floundering ribbons of my dignity and started over”

“His home was in decay, and mine lay in the shadow of the anchor. Scion had made wanderers of us.”

Current opening line (circa Dec 18, 2018): “The sun had been climbing over the cliffs when our ship had pared away from Dover.”

“Someone who had heard of me and whose first response had not been to try to kill me. What a treat.”

“A hollow ache stretched out within me. It started in the chambers of my heart, in a place that reached eternally for Ireland.”

“‘I promised you we would stay together,’ he said. ‘In the absence of other options, I will follow your lead on this matter.’”

“‘I’m fine.’ ‘Your attempt to mask the darkness under your eyes serves as compelling evidence of that. As does the full bowl of coffee.’ I cocked my head. ‘Did you just master sarcasm?’ ‘Paige.’ ‘It’s a cup of coffee. With… no handle.’”

“‘There’s no fireplace,’ I stated. ‘No.’ ‘But how are you-‘ A wild laugh was bubbling up. ‘How are you going to cope without one?’ ‘Cope,’ Warden repeated.  ‘You need one. To stare into, pensively. Did you know,’ I said to him, ‘that you do that a lot?’ He tilted his head, which only set off a fit of silent laughter. My ribs ached in protest.”

‘I mustered all the breath I had left and screamed, until I folded on myself and my voice burned to nothing.’

‘Who can break you now, Black Moth, now there is nothing left to break?’

[we-rate-tmnt]

Give us the Donatellos!

Donnie is my favorite so Imma be super biased on this one. Maybe I like smart guys or maybe purple is my favorite color, you’ll never know!

Up first, the og ‘hehe turgle’

Donatello (1987)

Yeah I’m sorry for making this 

First of all, not the biggest fan of his voice. It has a bit of a whiny quality to it, and I’m not about all that jazz. His gismo’s look pretty lame a lot of the times, either it’s a grey box with some buttons, dials and flashing lights or looks like it was pulled directly from Lost in Space. Still a cute design but he felt pretty bland and seemed to be used for plot convenience most of the time. To put it simply, he was cute and essential but kinda bland. I’m always really harsh on this version because it’s so painfully dated and cheesy, which ain’t my cup of tea, but what can I say be hehe turgle.

5/10

I had a crush on this Donnie so you know that this is not remotely close to a fair rating but eh, I love him and yall do too

Don (2003)

His voice, such a huge improvement. I’m really sound-oriented and I often like to play a game of ‘I’ve heard the VA before, but which role?’ when I watch cartoons and I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty good at it. So when I heard that soft, caring voice, ten year old me was head over heels. Which is one quality I love about him. His heart is so huge, like I can think back to a bunch of side characters and most of them were introduced through Don helping or knowing them. The Atlantians and the homeless in the show owe so much to Don, but he goes out of his way to make sure that they are alright. In the last season (which everyone hated but I actually really liked so fuck me I guess), Splinter is lost into tiny pieces across the web and Don blames himself and goes without sleep and food for days to bring him back. It broke my heart, and I’m pretty sure a lot of others, to see him like that.

On a lighter note, I vaguely remember this one scene where the triceration dude is like ‘you did this!’ and Don’s like ‘I did? Good for me then.’ and had a very pleased grin on his face right after. I don’t know why, but that killed me. Bless Don and his rare, but excellent, comebacks.

He really does so much and there were quite a few episodes focused on him. He also had quite a bit of character development, not as much as Leo, but whoever gets any more development whatsoever besides Leo?

I love him he’s amazing protect him/10

Next up is the Donnie that helped me love my old gap tooth.

Donnie (2012)

Voiced by the very talented Rob Paulson, this Donnie goes back and forth from really great character to eh. The whole April thing was just kinda strange to me and I don’t really think it added anything other than some interesting Casey and Donnie banter. His crush was really strong the first two seasons and came off as stalkerish almost. Although I’m guilty of having a picture of a crush as my lock screen once as well, so I can’t judge that much. I really liked that they actually addressed this when Bigfoot had a crush on Donnie and he realized how April felt. Yeah, that episode was weird and just didn’t make any sense, but it really helped Donnie gain a new perspective and made him go from super crush to (mostly) hidden pining. He has a nice design as well, especially with the gap tooth. I used to have one and was really embarrassed of it but whenever I saw that Donnie had one, I thought it looked neat and I started to see myself in a more positive light. It’s closed up now, but I can still spray water between the little bit that’s left as a parlor trick. But seriously, what the FUCK was up with Don visiososoos whatever tf his name I I don’t understnad my tiny brain don’t understand why my purple boy tried to kill this dude who looked like he should’ve been wearing a red jumpsuit in the background of a pixar robot love story. Anyway, my tall gap tooth son, ily.

7/10

Then, the barely changed but fantastic

Donnie (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

Baby but Bastard at the same time purely because of the ‘Anyone who bothers me, ejector seat button’s right there’ line. 

10/10

Now this version has one of my favorite designs out of all the Donatello’s!

Donatello (2014/2016)

They put a lot of thought into his design psychically, the long body, the near-constant look of surprise and curiosity in his features, the gadgets made of common objects, the wraps on his arms, I would love to be able to think of and make those kinds of details! It was all really well thought out and he stood out since he wasn’t as bulky as the rest of the turtles. I really like the little lines and the actor did a fantastic job on the delivery and really made the character come to life. Some favorites: ‘Ohmygod, they have guns’, the little awed, snorty chuckle when he flips a car over with his bo staff, ‘doitdoitoitdoit im not gonna stop til you do it doditdoit’ and when he straight up yeets himself out of a plane. He has a genuine curiosity in everything he does and I think he might be my favorite version. It’s hard to choose when it comes to Donnie because he varies so wildly. But for detail, voice and writing alone, definitely the 2014 Donnie.

8.5/10

Next up is God himself

Donnie (2018)

Chaotic as all hell, like I can’t think of a more chaotic character from ANY of the versions other than this Donnie. I have a lot of thoughts about his character in general, from design, to psychology and complexes. First and foremost, Donnie is a softshell turtle, meaning he has a DOPE battle shell and overall looks pretty damn neat. Although, I think that just the fact he’s biologically weaker has caused him to put up a lot of boundaries between him and his family and friends. He can’t be incredibly strong like Raph, agile like Leo or fast like Mikey and even though he brags about being smart, he feels almost beneath his brothers and strives to outdo them in any way he can. He wants to show them that he’s just as, if not more so, talented and feels overlooked because his inventions become ‘too smart’ or ‘too over the top’ and even the ones that work out incredibly well are written off for flashier projects. 

He depends on technology and feels like that's all he has, and (ironically enough) he’s built up a shield around him. He acts confident and narcissistic and has an almost nihilistic outlook, but he’s frustrated and feels inferior and wants validation more than anything. I came up with this theory when I saw the episode Turtle Dega Nights. I know that the scene was meant for Donnie to express how he feels about Splinter lying about the event and believe that he didn’t genuinely want to hang out with his sons, but that kind of thing feels like it’s been built up over time, like he’s been lied to before about the true meaning behind something. Something like, oh idk, how great his inventions are? Or how helpful he really is? Or how talented he is? Just sayin. Also ngl I might be self projecting a bit, but mmm. Also he has so much purple on him and it’s wayyy more accurate compared to just a purple bandanna bc people who like purple GO ALL OUT. A friend told me this and I thought ‘nah thats not true I like purple’ but then I looked down to find my dyed purple jeans, purple vans and my favorite hoodie, also purple. A really chaotic version but he seriously needs a hug.

9/10

Storytime: One time my friend dressed up as Donnie the same year I was dressing as April O’ Neal and we didn’t even plan it. It was fantastic.

Thank you so much for sending this in! Sorry it’s taking me so long to get around to these! I’m so glad you guys are liking my blog and my opinions!

[courtingstars]

Notes for Storming the Castle, Ch. 6

Hello again to my lovely readers! Chapter Six is the first chapter of Part Two, and I had lots of notes this time, from some cultural stuff to why I wrote about the Akashi family/household the way I did. First, a general warning about this part of the fic, since this is the first time I’m writing about Akashi’s family life…

Content Warning: My take on the Akashis in this series is going to be of a broken family that has become increasingly dysfunctional. I’m going to try my best to follow canon, to write Akashi’s parents with as much depth and backstory as I can while also staying true to what we know about Akashi’s dissociative disorder. I’ll talk about this more later on...

(Cut for the rest of the warning about content, plus more notes about the Akashi family, Akashi’s house, Bokushi, Yukimaru, and all kinds of cultural things...)

But I did want to warn that scenes with the Akashis will include mentions and depictions of emotional neglect and abuse, as well as portrayals of dissociation and other effects of trauma on children (particularly the death of a caregiver). I don’t think my take on the Akashis will be darker than the average KnB fic (?). But I’ll always include warnings when I write scenes like the one at the beginning of this chapter, in case you’d rather skip or skim them.

(These are difficult subjects, and I don’t want to throw these words around lightly, so for clarification, here is an article I found helpful that explains what emotional neglect is--in the case of my fic, the ideas about “unrealistically high expectations” and perfectionism are especially relevant--and I do find the “Definition” section on the Wikipedia page pretty helpful in defining emotional abuse. This fic mostly focuses on neglect and its effects.)

About the Akashi Dining Room

I’m guessing this was probably obvious, but I got the dining room from this scene in the anime:

(Sometimes I think my portrayal of Masaomi might be too harsh, but then I remember this scene and think, “OKAY BUT REALLY, WHO LETS THEIR ONLY CHILD SIT ACROSS FROM THEM FOR MEALS AT A TABLE THAT COULD FIT AT LEAST EIGHT CHAIRS BETWEEN THEM, I’M SORRY MASAOMI BUT YOU HAVE ISSUES.” So if you’re wondering where I got 95% of my inspiration for that first scene… That’s basically where. Poor Akashi. T_T)

(... Also, I won’t talk about Masaomi’s character in detail this time, but I should probably mention that a lot of my take on him was inspired by some of the pressures and expectations that apply to leaders of Japanese companies. Japan has a unique corporate culture, and some of the things he says to Akashi were my attempt to reflect that... Hopefully I can talk about it more later when I’m not so heartbroken over it.)

Akashi lives in a Western style mansion, which is pretty typical with anime versions of ultra-rich Japanese families. (More traditional wooden houses are generally used when the fictional family has strong ties to a specific part of traditional Japanese culture.) Since the above scene took place during the Teikou arc, I assumed the house was supposed to be somewhere in or around Tokyo.

I’ll talk more about the Akashis’ home in the anime—and the mansion it’s based on—in my notes for the next chapter. (Because yes, it does exist! And it’s awesome.)

More About the Breakfast Scene

In general, I think of the Akashis as a family that puts a lot of importance on their Japanese heritage, while also having some international influences. (I mean, that is a Western dining room up there with a suit of armor in it, so, uh… //laughs) It makes sense for an ultra powerful and wealthy family, since they’d probably be involved in international business, for one thing.

So I tried to convey this with a few things in the breakfast scene, such as with Masaomi’s choice of newspapers. I also chose the “Eggs Royale for breakfast” thing partly because of the fancy-sounding name (which amused me, because symbolic puns), but also because it’s a variant on Eggs Benedict that uses smoked salmon. Since the dish is popular in English-speaking countries like the U.K., it would have some international flair from a Japanese perspective. But Japanese-style breakfasts often include salmon or other fish, so it wouldn’t really be that exotic either? (Plus poached eggs can be kind of finicky, so it seemed like a fitting “everyday” dish that’s still being made for a family that’s rich enough to have a chef. XD)

On that note, I had fun coming up with all the breakfast foods in this fic… The range of foods that Japanese people choose for breakfast tends to vary a lot? Traditional choices are foods like miso and natto, but Western-style food is also popular. (You can see just how much variety there is in this awesome article.) I chose to make the breakfasts in this fic all ‘Western style,’ to go with the Western fairy tale theme. (Plus the Akashis have a Western house, and Furihata’s favorite food, the rice omelet, is a youshoku dish, which is a Western-influenced Japanese cuisine. So it seemed like a logical fit for a story about their home lives.

… And I was really tempted to start rambling here about how I wrote both the Akashis and the Furihatas as being kind of old-fashioned for a Japanese family in different ways, and how shitamachi versus yamanote neighborhoods in Tokyo are a thing, but I talk too much already. XD Maybe next time!)

About the Servants

In my version of the Akashi household, there are a lot of servants who fill different roles. I based this loosely off canon, from the maids that were shown in the anime (that brief scene when Akashi is born) to the part where Akashi is dropped off on his first day at Teikou by a driver. (Possibly a butler or a chauffeur... It’s unclear, at least from what I could tell! Random fact: In the English Wikipedia entry on chauffeurs, they use a photo of a Japanese driver—in super fancy white gloves, no less. XD)

In my stories, I went with an elaborate interpretation. So the Akashi household in Tokyo has a butler, who’s basically the manager/head of the servants. Masaomi and Akashi each have a valet who attends to their needs more personally, and a chauffeur drives them around. (Their valet can also fill in with another car, if the chauffeur is already out driving the other person.) They also have a chef, maids, and the housekeeper, who organizes and buys everything needed to maintain the house. Finally, Akashi mentions a groom who personally takes care of Yukimaru. (Though he’s actually one of the servants from their Kyoto estate.)

About Bokushi

Oh, Bokushi. //laughs I don’t really have anything that useful to say about him here, except that I missed him. (As anyone who read Playing Amends knows, my version of Bokushi has all the snark. Particularly when it comes to Oreshi. XD)

But I did want to briefly mention that I’ll be writing in a lot more detail about Bokushi very soon. (Mostly in The Vanishing Prince!) Also, the portrayal of Akashi’s dissociative disorder in KnB canon is pretty vague, as far as how both alters experience memory and consciousness. Based on the canon, I interpret Oreshi and Bokushi as being very co-conscious the majority of the time. I headcanon that they do occasionally black out, though, and then later gather information they missed from the one who was fronting. (If you’re not familiar with terms like alters, co-conscious, fronting, and dissociating, I’ll try to go into them more later, as well as provide some resources if you want to learn more about dissociative disorders in general.)

In Bokushi’s case, my headcanon is that he’s been spending a lot of time blacked out after the Winter Cup, while he was much more co-conscious during Teikou. I briefly hinted at this in that one-shot fic, Playing Amends, I mentioned earlier.

Also, this is probably obvious, but the way they call each other brothers comes from Oreshi’s comment in KnB canon that Bokushi is “like having a troublesome younger brother I need to apologize for.” The tone of that comment is probably 90% of my inspiration for how they interact in general? //laughs (Well, that, and their scene together in the anime in Episode 93… That scene is also where the shadowy ‘room’ for their shared headspace comes from.)

About Yukimaru

So I guess it’s clear by now that my version of Yukimaru is a bit of a bratty snob. //laughs (I have wayyy too much fun with him. Just like Bokushi and Kintarou. XD) I went back and forth on whether the Akashis’ house in Tokyo would have the kind of room required for stables and/or paddocks big enough for turnout. I ended up sort of splitting the difference, based on various arrangements for horse ownership I’ve seen in cities and suburbs.

Also, Akashi has Yukimaru in a halter in this scene instead of a bridle with a bit. Halters are normally used to lead horses around while on foot. From what I could gather, riding a horse in just a halter would require a calm, trustworthy horse, and a rider with enough skill and experience to pull it off. I was hoping to convey that they went on a quick, casual ride, so Akashi didn’t do the full tacking up routine with the bridle.

I don’t mention it anywhere in the story, but I think of Yukimaru as a thoroughbred with a super-fancy pedigree, possibly from a family of racehorses. So he’s got a very superior attitude going on. //laughs I also headcanon that his mother was named Shirahime (“White Princess”) and she was Shiori’s horse, so Shiori is the one who passed on her love for horseback riding to Akashi. (I drafted a scene forever ago between her and Shirahime that I thought was really adorable, so hopefully one day I’ll finish that fic… It’s about all the GoM, but actually more about their parents, for some reason? //laughs)

Lastly, in case you were wondering if there are white thoroughbreds out there, oddly enough, there’s a family of Japanese racehorses that are pretty famous for it! Famous as in one of them, Yuki-chan, is even mentioned and pictured in the current Wikipedia article on white horses. XD (I could probably also ramble a lot here about the Japanese symbolism/history with white horses, from the religious connection with Shinto to Emperor Hirohito’s horse in WWII and how everything with Akashi is an emperor reference, I swear, but you get the idea.)

Well, I think that covers just about everything, for now. Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the start of Part Two!

[mediawhorefics]

i tried to stalk your blogs for some updates but after a bit of scrolling i figured it was easier to just ask: are you writing fic at the moment? if yes, how is it going? what's it about? :) love your writing btw

hiiii

things are/have been a bit complicated for me recently so i guess the answer is yes and no? there are a few projects/wips i’m interested in, one in particular i’m hoping to finish for the summer, but things have been a bit rough lately and time, as well as motivation, has been hard to find... most of the time i’ve got free nowadays is mostly dedicated to my novel. i’m working a lot on worldbuilding atm and that’s very time-consuming. i really want to finish & publish a new fic soon though cos it’s been ages and i feel in a bit of a rut.

BUT here’s a list of wips im lowkey (some of them highkey) interested in: 

1930s fantasy treasure hunters/indiana jones au: in which louis is a treasure hunter and harry is an anglo-saxon expert/old english teacher at saint-andrews and they have to team up to find the tomb+treasure of a long dead anglo-saxon king. this is my old english pet project and was supposed to be my big bang. it’s very nerdy. i have no idea if i’m going to finish this one because i keep getting lost in old english/translation research and putting wayyy too much details in the fic so *shrug* 

the labyrinth au : listen im still thinking about it and i blame harris reed’s outfits. but harry as the goblin king, obvs ???

i really want to write an older larry fic (theyre in their 40s)... this one has not gone past the vague premise stage BUT label owner harry who did the boyband thing and the successful solo career thing and now owns a label that focuses on lgbt+ artists and nurtures and supports them in a way that he wasn’t supported in his early days. and louis is an english professor at a prestigious university in london and he focuses a lot on queer studies. their path crosses over when one of the kids on harry’s label who had a lot of success in their late teens/early 20s want to go back and do the uni thing before releasing a third or fourth album and louis becomes their Academic Mentor of some sorts. 

the summer love au : disaster gay/inexperienced & anxious louis tries to deal with his ridiculous crush on the super cute guy who works in the american style diner in between his town and the next. this is almost at 10k and most likely the next fic i’ll finish/post. i’m not anticipating it having a very deep plot except h&l falling in love and being cute and a bit awkward.